


The Night Before Christmas

by IncendiaGlacies



Category: DC's Legends of Tomorrow (TV)
Genre: Christmas Fluff, Family Fluff, Gen, Pre-Series, RipFic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-19
Updated: 2019-01-19
Packaged: 2019-10-12 20:52:57
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,300
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17474801
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/IncendiaGlacies/pseuds/IncendiaGlacies
Summary: It was the night before Christmas and all through the Waverider, the Hunters were getting into the spirit, with the whole family.





	The Night Before Christmas

**Author's Note:**

  * For [DarkShade](https://archiveofourown.org/users/DarkShade/gifts).



> Written for the RipChat gift exchange. As always, thank you to ams75 for being my beta!

Jonas waddled along into the hall, eyes upward on all the pretty lights and decorations his mummy and daddy had put up. Speaking of which, he paused when he saw them standing under some leaves and kissing. Yuck!

“Ew!”

Miranda broke apart from Rip and laughed, picking the toddler up and tickling his stomach. “Oh, you don’t like seeing that now, do you? Aren’t you supposed to be taking a nap?”

Jonas laughed and squealed, batting his mother’s hands away. “No nap! No sleep!”

“Right, your son, deal with him.” Miranda passed on the child to her husband as he spluttered on about the unfairness. He always got the child when Jonas was being ‘difficult’.

“Daddy, wanna play?”

“Um.” Rip spared a look to Miranda who raised an eyebrow, daring him to say yes. “You are supposed to be asleep, how did you get out?”

“Gigi.”

“Of course,” Rip muttered. “Gideon? Have anything to say for yourself?”

“Not at all, Captain Hunter,” Gideon said brightly.

“I asked you to watch him.”

“I did.”

“And you let him out.”

“You never gave any specific instructions against it and besides, he asked nicely. Am I not supposed to reward him for good manners? How else are we going to reinforce wrong and right morals in him?”

“Don’t get cheeky with me, Gideon,” Rip warned, trying not to be bothered by how Miranda was stifling a laugh. “We will discuss your insubordination later.”

“Of course, Captain.”

She sounded far too happy to be properly chastised. Rip shook his head, he would deal with it later.

“Superheroes, Daddy?” Jonas begged, tugging on his duster. Rip hesitated, but Jonas gave him his big eyes and he couldn’t help but give in.

“Right, get on.” Rip picked Jonas up, over his back and let him wrap his arms around his neck so Rip could give him a piggyback ride. With Miranda’s help, he got his son positioned properly and ran towards the bridge. Jonas squealed and laughed as they zoomed through the halls, making sharp turns and skidding to a stop.

“Again, Daddy, again! Wanna fly!”

Rip huffed and puffed, trying to catch his breath as he placed Jonas back on the ground. “In a while, Jonas. I need to rest. How about we put up some more decorations with your mum?”

Miranda came into the room with a box of ornaments for the Christmas tree and other items. One by one, she started to pull things out of the box. Jonas headed over to look at it, and pulled out the leaves he had seen on the ceiling earlier. Rip picked it up from his hands and smiled.

“You know what this is?” he asked. Jonas shook his head. Rip pulled Jonas into his lap so he could explain. “It’s called mistletoe. My Mother, that is, your Nana, she told me an old tradition about it. Apparently, when you’re under the mistletoe with someone, you have to kiss them, otherwise it’s bad luck if you don’t.”

“That’s why you were kissing Mummy?”

“Well, that, and I love her,” Rip said. Discussing his love for his wife openly with his family was something he was still working on. But Miranda and he had agreed that they never wanted their son to not know love, to not believe in it like the Time Masters had taught them.

“Oh, but Daddy,” Jonas said, pointing to the ceiling, “look! We have the mitheltoe over us and Gigi now. We gotta kiss her!”

“Mistletoe,” Rip corrected, feeling a slight blush on his neck. Behind him, Miranda was silently laughing once more. “And uh, we can’t really-”

“But we hafta!” Jonas insisted. “It’s bad luck if we don’t – you said! And we love Gigi, right?”

“Right?” Gideon piped up, her avatar appearing right by them on the console. Rip really hated it when she backed him into a corner like him.

“Right?” Miranda added, smugly. Rip glared at her.

“Right,” he said. He cleared his throat and picked Jonas up. “You first.” Rip held onto Jonas as he leaned in and ‘kissed’ Gideon’s cheek.

“Love you, Gigi.”

“I love you as well, my Little Captain,” Gideon responded serenely. Rip tried very hard not to get jealous at how easily Jonas had won over his AI and how hard he’d had to work to earn it. All Jonas had to do was pout and puff out his pudgy little cheeks and Gideon was putty in his hands, even if she would never admit it. “I believe it is your turn now, Captain Hunter.”

“I – what?”

“You have to kiss her, Rip. It’s tradition.” Miranda grinned and winked at him, a stupid smirk on her face. Rip couldn’t wait to wipe it off her face. He could practically feel his cheeks turning red and hoped his beard hid his blush. Leaning in, he pressed his lips to the hologram’s cheek. He felt only the slightest bit of static electricity from the air as he pulled away.

“Daddy, wanna know a secret?” Jonas pulled on his duster again. Rip bent down to his level.

“What is it?”

“I’m gonna marry Gigi!”

Rip blinked. Once. Twice. “What?”

“I believe he said he wanted to marry me, Captain Hunter,” Gideon said helpfully. “I gratefully accept, my Little Captain.”

“What?” Rip repeated, dumbly.

“Welcome to the family, dearest Gideon,” Miranda said warmly.

“Yay!” Jonas cheered.

“I – you can’t marry her!” Rip said, absolutely scandalized. Gideon was his!

“Why not?” Gideon asked sadly. “I already have the marriage certificate printing!”

“I forbid it!”

“How about, when Jonas turns eighteen, if he still wants to marry you, you can finalize it?” Miranda said, logically.

“Yes, Miranda,” Gideon agreed, even if a bit sadly. It still wasn’t the outcome Rip had wanted, he would have preferred a clear ‘no’, but he would take it.

Miranda cleared her throat, nudging a sad Jonas. “Do you want to go make cookies with Daddy while I decorate the ship?”

Jonas nodded enthusiastically. Baking always meant extra sweet treats! Rip picked his son up and helped the little boy ‘fly’ to the galley. “What kind of cookies would you like to make?” Rip asked, setting him down on the counter.

“Nana said that Santa likes chocolate chip.”

“Chocolate chip it is!” Rip started pulling out all the ingredients while keeping an eye on Jonas to make sure he didn’t fall or get into any trouble.

“Daddy, is Santa going to know to come to the Waverider?” Jonas asked worriedly.

“Not to worry, Jonas,” Gideon piped up. “I have already sent him our coordinates, he will find us easily.” Jonas lit up at her words and Rip sighed in relief, shooting a grateful look to the ceiling. He poured in all the ingredients into the bowl and let Jonas mix it up as best he could before taking over again. The little boy was covered in flour, a little butter, and chocolate by the time the cookie dough was made.

“And now for the fun part,” Rip said. He took a small amount of dough in his hands and rolled it into a ball, placing it on the baking tray. Jonas watched him with big eyes before doing the same. His ball came out a little messier, the dough almost too big for his hands, and it was a little squished. But there was a clear look of pride in his eyes as he placed it next to Rip’s. It made his father smile with joy. Finally, two dozen little rolled up balls later, the tray was filled and ready for baking.

“There we go. We’ll have chocolate chip cookies in just a little while,” Rip promised.

“We have to save some for Santa!”

“We will. We can place out a plate tonight under the tree for him. Gideon will make sure he finds them.” Rip watched as his son sighed in relief and brought him to his side. “Now, you are a mess. Let’s clean you up before your mother catches you and inevitably yells at me.” Jonas covered his mouth, stifling a giggle. He always found it funny when Mummy and Gigi yelled at Daddy.

Rip finished putting everything into the sink and then grabbed a washcloth, wetted it, and ran it over Jonas’ face and hands. The boy struggled and tried to push his father away, but Rip wasn’t having any of it. “Jonas, you’ll be all sticky and get cookie dough everywhere if I don’t clean you up now.”

“Don’t like it!”

“Well, I’m almost done. Hold still.” Rip finished wiping Jonas’ face of the excess dough from when he’d snuck in a few bits of cookie dough (which Rip had kindly pretended not to see). “There, done.”

“Want a candy cane,” Jonas said, pouting.

“You’ll be having cookies in a while, you don’t need a candy cane.”

“Want it!” Jonas shrieked at him, tears brimming in his eyes. Rip’s eyes widened in fear and he pulled Jonas into his arms, trying to calm the boy down, but it wasn’t working. He was in full on tantrum mode. Just as he was about to start another round of screaming, the fabricator turned on and outputted three peppermint candy canes, his favourite. Jonas wiggled his way out of Rip’s grasp and ran straight for the fabricator, taking the bow-tied candy cane and opening it up to suck on it.

“Thank you, Gigi,” he said, happily.

Rip sighed and turned his eyes to the ceiling. “You’ve gone soft.”

“Not on you,” Gideon warned him. “Besides, I don’t like hearing him cry. It’s irritating.” Rip wasn’t so easily fooled by her words. Her tone of voice gave her away, she was complete putty in Jonas’ small hands. He shook his head and left his son in the galley, knowing Gideon would take perfect care of him, to help his wife clean up in the bridge.

“Wow,” he said as he stepped into the room. “You’ve outdone yourself, Miranda.” It was like Christmas had quite literally exploded on their ship. The tree was up, decorated with garlands, shiny colourful orbs, sparkly snowflakes, and other assortments. And the rest of the room was no different. Mistletoe and holly hung from the ceilings, fairy lights were strung around his parlour, there was even fake snow and a sleigh filled with presents in the corner. It looked like a Winter Wonderland.

Miranda smiled and gave him a kiss, leaning against him. “Couldn’t have done it without Gideon’s help. She fabricated most of it, suppose we get to add to our decorations.”

“You had to put it up all on your own,” Rip reminded her, not wanting her to doubt her own sheer brilliance. “But thank you, Gideon. It truly is beautiful.”

“You are welcome, Captain Hunter. Though, I do still think there is enough room for an ice rink. I’m sure Jonas would enjoy ice skating very much if he tried it,” Gideon insisted. Miranda shook her head fondly at her friend.

“Speaking of Jonas, where is our son?” she asked.

“Galley. He’s fine. Probably waiting on the cookies.” Rip checked his watch. “Which should be just about done. Shall we?”

“Yes. I want him to see the bridge; I think he’ll really like it this year.” It was their first Christmas on the Waverider and not at home. It was special.

They walked to the galley together, taking a little extra time to enjoy the mistletoe along the way. When they finally reached the galley, Miranda’s jaw dropped open at what she saw. Rip was too busy admiring his wife, when he finally turned to see what she was staring at, only one word left his mouth.

“Bollocks.”

Miranda glared at him and slapped his shoulder for cursing in front of their child. She took a deep breath to calm herself down before speaking to Jonas. “You’re covered in chocolate, Jonas.”

“I know,” he said happily, eating a chocolate truffle.

“He was clean when I left him!” Rip insisted. Miranda ignored him, knowing she would yell if she so much as looked at him.

“Why are you covered in chocolate?” she tried again.

“It’s yummy!”

“How can you give him chocolate?” Miranda hissed at Rip. “You know what he’s like on sugar. And it’s going to ruin his appetite for dinner!”

“I didn’t give him chocolate. I left him perfectly fine with a candy cane only because Gideon-” Rip stopped himself once he realized who the true culprit was. “Gideon, did you give Jonas sweets?” Silence. “Gideon, answer me!”

“Yes,” she said quietly. Rip groaned and rubbed his temple, while Miranda rubbed his shoulder in apology for accusing him.

“Well how much did you give him?” Miranda asked.

“He ate two candy canes, one chocolate bar, three chocolate truffles, and a gingerbread cookie with extra frosting. I was just about to fabricate him the hot cocoa he asked for.”

“Oh, Gideon,” Rip said softly.

“He said he loved me. I have a hard time rebutting that, you know I do,” Gideon defended her actions. “And he pouted when I said no. I don’t like to see him cry.”

“Softie,” Rip teased gently. He would berate her another day if needed.

“Yes, Captain,” Gideon accepted it. “May I also suggest you take your cookies out? They are about to burn.”

“Oh, yes. Thank you, Gideon!” Rip ran to the oven and pulled them out. Luckily, they were a little crisp but far from burnt, perfectly edible. Jonas reached out for a cookie when Miranda stopped him.

“No,” she said sternly.

“Cookie!”

“No. You have had enough sugar for now. Maybe later, if you are good.”

“But I want-”

“Jonas, I said no.” Miranda flashed her strictest look on him and Jonas deflated, sitting on the ground, pouting. Rip could see why Gideon had such a hard time saying no to the boy. It was hard. On the other hand, he wished he could say no to the boy as Miranda did at times. His wife picked their son up and hugged him, kissing his cheek.

“Come on. Come see the decorations. We still need you to put the star up on the tree,” she said. Immediately, Jonas perked up a bit and nodded excitedly. Rip laughed and followed them to the bridge. Putting the star up on the tree was tradition for Jonas, one that would not be broken anytime soon.

While Miranda got the star out from the box, Rip pulled Jonas onto his shoulders. He took the star from his wife and handed it to his son. “Gently,” he said, guiding Jonas to the tree. “Set it down. Perfect!”

“Yay!” Jonas cheered and clapped as Rip set him back down on the ground. “It’s pwetty!”

“It truly is,” Gideon complimented. Rip smiled at his family, glad that his mother had taught him all about the different holidays and traditions despite what the Time Masters had thought. They hadn’t believed in frivolous things such as holidays, but Rip always made sure to take the vacation time around the holidays. And this year they got to celebrate it with the whole family, including Gideon.

“Where are the presents? Nana said we’d get presents!” Jonas whined, tugging on Miranda’s shirt.

“Ah, well we get presents tomorrow, when it’s actually Christmas,” Rip assured his son.

“Santa brings the presents, remember?” Miranda said. Silently, Jonas nodded, remembering Nana’s stories.

“Presents and Nana tomorrow,” Rip promised.

“Okay,” Jonas said happily.

 “Now, what do you say we carry on our proud Hunter tradition of star gazing?” Miranda said, holding out her hand for her boys. They each took one, but Rip hesitated, looking up at the ceiling. He didn’t want to leave Gideon alone on the holidays again. Miranda followed his gaze and parted her lips, nodding her head in understanding.

“You two go ahead,” Rip said.

“No Daddy, we hafta do it as a family!”

Rip ruffled his son’s hair. “I know. But Gigi can’t come out with us. She’s family too, isn’t she?” Jonas nodded along, sadly remembering how Gigi couldn’t follow him everywhere. He could only ever talk to her when he visited his father’s ship. Otherwise she couldn’t read or sing him to sleep at home. “So, you two go ahead. I’ll catch up later.”

“Actually, may I suggest something that would benefit us all?” Gideon spoke up at last.

“By all means, your ideas are brilliant,” Rip said dryly.

“Obviously.” The glass panes of the ceiling lightened, clearing up like a foggy day disappearing. “May I suggest you camp out on the bridge floor? It will be perfect for sightseeing once I choose our destination, and it won’t be cold for Jonas.”

Rip shared a look with Miranda and she smiled. “That sounds perfect, Gideon. Jonas, come help me get the blankets and hot chocolate. We can set them out right here.”

“Yes, Mummy.” Jonas took his mother’s hand and they left Rip alone on the bridge. Well, almost alone. He walked over to Gideon’s console and watched as her holographic head appeared.

“Thank you,” he said softly, touching her console, trying to connect with her on a deeper level.

“It was the simplest solution for all parties,” she dismissed easily.

Rip shook his head. “Not just that and you know it. Thank you for letting us on the ship when I know you’re not supposed to.” For keeping his family a secret from the Time Masters for so long. “For doing…all of this.” He gestured to the heavily decorated ship. “It means a lot to me, Gideon.”

“It means just as much to me that you would allow me to be a part of your family’s festivities for this holiday season,” she returned quietly.

“You’ve always been family, Gideon. You know that.” Rip looked at her intently, but she said nothing more. He sighed and patted her console. “You are.”

“I suppose in another couple of decades I really will be when I marry Jonas,” she teased him.

“Stop that!” He narrowed his eyes at her. If he didn’t know any better he would say her avatar was laughing at him. He wondered if perhaps she would want an update one day, to something more humanoid. There were some dreams he had where he could have sworn…

“Sorry, Captain Hunter.” She sounded anything but.

“Sure you are.” He smiled at her as Miranda and Jonas returned. He turned to them just as they were laying out the blanket and helped them out. Then the three of them stretched out as Gideon navigated them to see the stars.

“They’re pretty,” Jonas said sleepily, sandwiched in between them as he munched on his cookie.

“They are,” Miranda agreed.

“Perhaps we should do this again,” Rip said casually. “Spend another holiday on the Waverider. All of us.”

Miranda looked at him knowingly. “I don’t think it’s me you should be asking,” she murmured. Of course, she was fine with it.

Rip smiled at her and squeezed her hand. “What do you say, Gideon? Take us back for another year?”

“It will be an utter hardship, but if you insist…I don’t see why not.” Rip chuckled at her haughty tone, knowing in truth how much she enjoyed having them here. Her family. “Now, I believe Jonas has the right idea of turning in for the night.” Rip and Miranda turned to their son and saw that he had in fact fallen asleep between them. Miranda kissed his forehead and smoothed his hair back. “I believe you should too, it’s past midnight and Santa only comes if you’re all asleep.”

“Maybe in a few more minutes,” Rip said lazily, quite content to be surrounded by his family. “Merry Christmas, Gideon.”

“Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good night.”


End file.
